{Prayer}

            Gifts are funny things, aren’t they? Sometimes you can feel like you nailed a gift and then it backfires. Other times you can give a gift you are not that confident in and it becomes a winner.

            With kids, you never know. I wonder why we even got our kids toys or gifts in their younger years because they spent more time playing with the boxes or the packaging peanuts than the toy itself.

            Some people are really great gift givers, others are not.

            This week we enter into week five of our Red Letter Challenge. We’ve looked at Being, Forgiving, and Serving. This week’s target that Jesus invites His followers to practice is Giving.

            Out of all the principles in this Red Letter Challenge, this is the one that Jesus brings up most frequently. It’s also likely the one that will be met with the widest reaction. As we read through the word of Jesus and everything that He said, and especially how frequently He talks about money and giving, I believe we can come to the conclusion that it’s impossible to be a stingy Christian. If you are following Jesus, you are generous.

            This isn’t a gray issue …  it’s pretty black and white. To truly follow Jesus means to be truly generous. Jesus talked about this more than love, heaven, or hell. In fact, He talked more about this topic than any other, except the Kingdom of God.

            Why did Jesus talk about money so much? Maybe it’s because people desperately need wisdom when it comes to their finances. Many of us are living paycheck to paycheck and drowning under debt. On average, about 60% of people live paycheck to paycheck, and about 80% are in debt. Numerous studies found that money is the number one thing people argue about most in their marriages. No matter who you are, saving, giving, and managing money is probably a challenge.

            In our culture today, financial stress is completely normal. Paycheck to paycheck? Normal. Monthly payments? Normal. Debt? Normal. Worry, anxiety, fear? Normal. Sadly, tension in relationship and fights over finances are also normal. Having little or no financial margin is normal.

            But here’s something to consider … You are rich!

            Andy Stanley says, “It’s funny, rich people are in denial. And normally we are not in denial about things we know. For instance, tall people admit they’re tall. Short people admit they’re short. Athletic people admit they’re athletic. Artsy people admit they’re artsy. And they don’t mind telling you that … their car is a mess, their room is a mess, their life is amess, and they are as happy as can be. Introverts don’t even mind telling you they are introverts and extroverts can’t wait to tell you they are extroverts. Like they really need to tell you. But when it comes to rich people, they won’t admit it, they live in denial.”

            According to statistics, if you make about $37,000 a year, you are in the top 1% of earners in the world. We enjoy a quality of life that very few in the history of the world have ever experienced. Our biggest concern is not starvation but obesity. Yet, no matter how much we make, we are not necessarily happier, and we still find ways to struggle financially.

            And here’s what’s crazy … money is by definition amoral. Money is not the root of all evil but the love of money. The greed that comes behind it, the never being satisfied attitude … that is the problem.

            So why does Jesus talk about giving so much? Because He knew this was going to be a constant struggle for us. Anytime a church or a pastor talks about money, skepticism and cynicism arise. Why? Two reasons I believe.

            First reason is because people don’t like how their hard-earned dollars have been used. Some think that Christian leaders, pastors, or churches have no right to tell them what to do with their money. They’ve seen churches use money in ways that don’t always honored God, so why should they give?

            The other reason is because money is the number one idol in our lives. It’s the Great American Idol. We like our things. We like building our own kingdoms. Money has become our security and our hope.

You know, it’s one thing to come to church on Sunday and put a Christian sticker on your car. It’s a whole other story to have Jesus as your security, as your cornerstone, and as your hope for the future. Nothing says you trust Jesus with your present and with your future more than living a life of being financially generous.

            It’s kind of ironic that on our currency it says “In God we trust.” Maybe the people that designed our currency meant to remind us not to put our trust in money, but in God.

            We heard in our Gospel reading an incredible story about a generous woman who had just lost her husband, but continued to live a life of generosity.

            “As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. ‘I tell you the truth,’ he said, ‘this poor widow has put it more than all the others. All these people gave their gift out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on’” (Luke 21:1-4).

            Jesus notices this poor widow giving two small copper coins that value less than half a penny in today’s currency. Yet, Jesus says she gave more than all the others. Why? Because she gave sacrificially, out of her poverty, while others gave out of their abundance.

            Don’t take this to mean that Jesus isn’t against big gifts. Notice that Jesus didn’t condemn the Pharisees for their gift. In fact, the Kingdom of God largely grows by financially well-off people being generous. But this story shows us that God welcomes us into a life of sacrificial generosity.

            Instead of storing up treasures on earth, Jesus calls us to invest in God’s kingdom. Yes, God blesses us, but we cannot truly go all in for God if you cannot trust God with your money. Tithing and giving are some of the clearest indicators of an abiding faith in Jesus. As Jesus says in Matthew 6. “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (6:21).

            If giving a struggle for you today or this week as you read through the Red Letter Challenge, I get it. It has been for me in the past and still is at times today. But generosity does something amazing … it allows your money goes places that you can’t and it impacts lives in ways you don’t even realize.

            If you at any of the great movements of God in history, it started with generosity. Giving fuels the mission.

            If you aren’t a regular giver, if you don’t tithe, I want to challenge you. In fact, the Red Letter Challenge will challenge you this week to become a more generous person.

            And it’s not just me that would issue you this challenge. The only time God ever says that we can “test Him” in the Bible is in Malachi 3:10 when He says to His people: “‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.’”

            Jesus tells His followers in Matthew 23:23 not to neglect the tithe. If in the Old Testament we gave out of an obedience to the Law, then how much more generous should we be after receiving the grace of Jesus?

            So, what does this look like for you today?

• Start by creating a budget to see where your money is going.
• Pray about where God is calling you to be generous.
• Invest in a mission that advances God’s Kingdom.

I may be bias, but I believe this family of faith-filled, big-thinking followers of Jesus is doing great work for His mission. Just as we serve in response to God’s grace, we give because God first gave to us.

The most famous verse in the Bible is John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life.” God gave His Son. Jesus gave up His life. When we give, we reflect the heart and character of God.

When God gave us His Son … He went all in, emptying His entire account so that we might be debt-free for eternity.

            Hear this today. You never look more like God then when you are a giver. God is a Giver and when you live a life of generosity, your greatest reward will be that you reflect the very image of Jesus. Amen.

            The peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, now and forever. Amen.